Sunday, October 30, 2016

Anger

Read deeply the following story of the Buddha.

Quote:
It is said that one day the Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. “You have no right teaching others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake!” 

The Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man, “Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?”

The young man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, “It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.”

The Buddha smiled and said, “That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself.”
:Unquote

The above story may be based on the following "The Story of Akkosa" 

Quote:
The Story of Akkosa

In the Akkosa Sutta, a man named Akkosa found out that one of his clansmen had just become a disciple of the Buddha. Outraged, Akkosa went to the Buddha to give the Buddha a piece of his mind – he hurled abuse and insults at the Buddha, telling the Buddha what he thought of him in no uncertain terms.

The Buddha was unmoved in the slightest by this barrage of insults and just asked a question in return:

“Do you sometimes receive visitors as guests?”

“Yes I do” replied Akkosa.

“And when they come, do you offer them food and drink and courtesies?” asked the Buddha.

“Yes, sometimes I do” Akkosa said.

“So what if your guests don’t accept what you offer to them – where do the food, drink and courtesies return to?”

“They return to me of course!” Akkosa answered.

“Akkosa, you came here today, hurling insults and abuse at me.  I do not accept what you have offered.  So where do these insults and abuse return?

Akkosa got the picture.
:Unquote

(My commentary)
If we understand the above story deeply, we can stop hurling insults and abuse at others out of anger. That's because it's very silly to do so. Wrong Thinking, Wrong Speech and Wrong Action are caused by Wrong View which are based on Wrong Mindfulness (Forgetfulness) and Wrong Concentration. So, we must be mindful and concentrated for Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech and Right Action.

(Cf.) https://essenceofbuddhism.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/how-the-buddha-handled-insults/